No room for children in the development of urban tourism? From their invisibility to the focussing on the children tourism market (339)

Theme Track: Urban and Metropolitan Areas - Culture and Entertainment

Author:
Malta, Paula

Why is that children tourist worth investigating? Cities have been hosting millions of tourists and face growing numbers of visitors. This tendency to a rise even faster than expected in visitor numbers is generally welcomed by the local authorities. The basic concern of this paper is not the overall composition of the visitor flows but a specific and separate segment: children, children as tourist consumers in their own right. Nevertheless, children seem invisible on urban tourism landscapes, and on tourism spaces in general; similarly, they seem invisible to the eyes of tourism researchers. In fact, a close look at the scientific research produced allows us to confirm that tourism has aroused a serious theoretical and methodological discussion, while observing, however, the omission of any reference to children tourism.

The aim is to develop a clearer understanding about the context and content of tourism provision and demand of children market in urban destinations. This presentation reviews the state of the art on children tourist population and the research that has been conducted on children tourism. Some aspects about the heterogeneous nature of this market segment, estimations about its size, economic significance and potential for the future in urban destinations are highlighted.

Keywords: children, children tourism, urban destinations, visitor attractions, Portugal

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